Pneumatic stacker.



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Patented Sept. 13, 1910.

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PNEUMATICI STACKER.

APPLIoATroN FILED 0012s, 1909.

Patented sept. 13,1910.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

GEORGE F. CONNER, 0F PORT HURON, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO THE INDIANA MANU-FACTURING COMPANY, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, A CORPORATION 0F WESTVIRGINIA.

PNEUMATIC STACKER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 8, 1909.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. Coxrznn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Port Huron, in the county of St. Clair and State ofMichigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in PneumaticStackers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in the general construction of thatportion ot' pneumatic stackers comprising the hopper and fan whereby theattachment thereof to separators is simplified and the efficiency of thefan and hopper are increased, all as will hereinafter more fully appear.

In the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof, Flgure l isa side elevation of a separator in fragment equipped with my improvedstacker; Fig. 2 a transverse sectional view of portions of the stackeron the dotted line 2-2 in Fig. 1; Figs. 3 and 4 detail sectional viewson the dotted lines 3-3 and 4 4 respectively in Fig. 2; Fig. 5 aperspective view showing my improved frame for attaching said stacker toa separator; and Fig. G a detail sectional View of portions of thestacker as seen when looking from the rear end of the separator towardthe stacker.

In said drawings the portions marked 10 represent a separator of anyordinary or desired construction to which my improved stacker isdesigned to be attached. The straw chamber 11 is of usual formation, itsbottom portion 12 constituting the'hopper, which latter is horizontallyarranged and whereby I dispense with the specially de signed inclinedhopper and rotary conveyers and similar devices commonly employed fordirecting material toward the zone of action of the intake suctionalcurrent created by the stacker fan.

As is Well known to those experienced in the construction and operationof pneumatic stackers, it is somewhat difficult to so direct thedischarging uneven masses or bunches of material such as straw into avertically arranged stacker fan at one side of the machine in suchmanner as to insure its proper and eflicient delivery thereinto at alltimes. To produce such result therefore I have devised a fan structure,to be placed at one side of the hopper, capable of creating a materialdischarging blast and also a blast which is conducted to the oppositeside of the hopperl and discharged therethrough and into the eye of thefan and thus delivering to said fan all material in the path of suchblast. The fan structure comprises a suitable casing 15 having itsoutlet duct 16 extending upwardly therefrom at a slight inclination andcommunicating with a preferably curved chute 17, this inclined duct andgradually curved chute enabling the straw to pass upwardly from the fanin a natural 27 across and beneath hopper 12, said duct 27 graduallyinclining downwardly at its upper side from its departure from saidopening 26 until at the opposite side of the hopper it is considerablycontracted in size as indicated in Fig. 4, and is then curved upwardlyto form a nozzle 28 pointing toward the fan.

I provide a simple and stable frame structure within which to supportthe stacker, comprising the upper and lower bars 31, 32 extending fromthe fan side of the separator and are connected by an angularlypositioned brace bar 33, which bars are further tied or secured togetherby the ticrod 34 connected to the forward end of the bar 3l and to therear end of bar 32, and secured to the intermediate brace bar 33 by abolt or otherwise. The stacker platform 3G is suitably attached to therear of the separator and to the frame just described, and after the fanhousing and hopper are in position the frame structure is securely heldtogether by the angularly arranged bar 37 attached to the corner of thestacker frame and to the separator, as indicated in Fig. 5. By thissimple arrangement it is only necessary to attach the stacker frame toone side of the separator, which is sufficient to sustain the stacker,and by which I am euabled to materially reduce the cost of suchstructures.

In the operation of my improved stacker the lower fan blades arerotating in the direction of the separator, as indicated by the arrow,so that the material is discharged from said blades in the forward sideof the housing and thence up through the duct and chute, and as theblades are thus freed and compressing air to the rear of the housingsaid compressed air expands laterally through the outlet 26 and isforced through the gradually tapered duct 27 from whence it isdischarged through nozzle 28 and across the hopper toward the influenceof the intake suction air current created by fan 20, which suction itjoins and thus produces a continuous blast draft across the hopper bywhich all material falling tliereinto will be instantly carried into thefan and discharged. In this manner I produce a single fan structurecapable of performing the two operations just described in a simple andhighly eiiicient manner. that a separate blast fan placed at-the side ofthe hopper opposite to the stacker fan hasbeen employed to produce ablast for the same purpose, as well as double fans for creating a strawdirecting blast and a discharge blast, and such structures I do notclaim.

I claim as my invention:

l. The combination, in a pneumatic stacker, of a hopper; avertically-arranged fan casing at one side of said hopper having amaterial-receiving inlet, a blast discharging outlet and amaterial-discharging outlet; a single fan in said casing for drawingmaterial through said inlet, discharging air through said blast outletand material through said material-discharging outlet; and meansconnectedto said blast outlet for I am aware @mise conveying air fromsaid fan to the side of the hopper opposite said fan and directing thesame through said hopper and toward said inlet for propelling materialinto said fan.

2. The combination, in a pneumatic stacker, of a hopper; avertically-arranged fan casing at one side of said hopper having amaterial inlet communicating therewith, a blast-discharging outletadjacent said inlet and a peripheral material-discharging outlet; asingle fan in said casing for drawing material from said hopper throughsaid inlet, discharging air through said blast outlet and materialthrough said peripheral outlet; and a duct leading from said blastoutlet to the side of the hopper opposite said fan for conveying airfrom said fan into said hopper and propelling material therethrough intosaid fan.

3. The combination, in a pneumatic stacker, of a hopper; a fan casing atone side thereof having a material-receiving inlet and ablast-discharging outlet in its inner wall, and a peripheral dischargeoutlet; a.

GEORGE F. CONN ER.

lVitnesses:

F. H. REYNOLDS, L. M. MILLER.

